Baseball

The New York spotlight might scare some people away ... but new voice of the Yankees Dave Sims isn't sweating over his new gig, even though he has big shoes to fill -- telling TMZ Sports he's excited for the dream opportunity!!

We caught up with Sims on the streets of NYC ... and he explained he feels no pressure to fill the shoes of longtime radio announcer John Sterling, who retired after 36 years -- 'cause it's something he's experienced in the past.

"John had a great run," he said. "I had a great run in Seattle. I essentially replaced Dave Niehaus in Seattle. I've done this before. I'm back home in New York, I mean it doesn't get better than this."

Resorts World casino in Las Vegas just got hit with a bad beat ... as the venue was fined $10.5 million in connection to a money laundering case involving a bookmaker who took thousands of bets for Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board dropped the news on Friday ... saying  the two sides entered into a settlement over the "unsuitable methods of operation primarily resulting from activities at the licensed property by illegal bookmakers Matthew Bowyer and Damien LeForbes."

Along with the fine ... the Vegas location will be making changes to its executive leadership and implementing stricter protocols to prevent money laundering, but it will not have to admit or deny any of the allegations made against it.

Tanner Bibee was set to make his first-ever Opening Day start for the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday before his tummy had other plans -- but the pitcher wants to make it absolutely clear it was NOT Chipotle's fault!!

For those unfamiliar with the 26-year-old, he revealed his pregame superstition ahead of the 2024 MLB season -- which involves hitting up the popular Mexican restaurant to get ready for a start.

Bibee even shared his go-to order ... which involved brown rice, chicken, pico de gallo, hot sauce, cheese, guacamole and lettuce.

Ice Cube delivered the Commissioner's trophy to the 2024 World Series champion Dodgers before their home opener on Thursday ... and he did it in true California style, like only an L.A. legend could!

Cube had the honor of handing over the coveted hardware ... and he did it in a totally unique way, cruising on the field in what looks like a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air.

As you can imagine, the 53K plus fans in the house went nuts when they saw the "Check Yo Self" rapper who was dripped out in an all-Dodgers blue fit.

Fans hoping to catch some Major League Baseball Opening Day action were unfortunately striking out ... as the league's streaming service stopped working as the season got underway -- and fans were pissed!!!

Social media was flooded with people voicing their displeasure with MLB.TV and its rough start out of the gates ... with some being met with playback errors and never-ending loading screens.

As of 1:04 PST ... Downdetector.com reported 21,000 outages. MLB.TV is no stranger to hiccups, with the app having a history of complaints from fans of America's pastime. Those issues have ranged from people calling out the service interface to the blackout restrictions that come with it.

Opening Day 2025 has arrived for the New York Yankees ... and while there's always excitement leading into a new season, the team's manager said the players will take the field with "heavy hearts" following the shocking death of former star Brett Gardner's 14-year-old son.

Aaron Boone spoke with the media ahead of first pitch at Yankee Stadium ... and he said the athletes will have Miller on their minds throughout the season.

"I talk to our guys a lot about perspective," he said. "While this matters so much to us, it's our livelihood, we pour so much into this, so many people care about it, it's baseball. I really think it's important we reflect on that every now and then when we get consumed with this."

It might be sunny down at Major League Baseball Spring Training in Florida, but the moon came out early during one game -- 'cause a mischievous fan pulled down his pants and mooned the camera!

The Toronto Blue Jays were taking on the Philadelphia Phillies Friday at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, FL ... and, one fan behind the plate appeared to be talking to a pal on the phone.

This isn't abnormal at baseball games -- where the fans behind the plate are in full-view of the audience at home ... but, most of the time these fans give a wave or a thumb's up to the folks at home.

Owen Hayes, the college baseball player who cops say beat the crap out of an 84-year-old man at a California bar, is no longer enrolled at his university.

Hayes was playing baseball at The Master's University in Santa Clarita, CA up until this week, when he surrendered to authorities at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station and was booked on a charge of felony assault.

In a statement to TMZ, the school says ... "The individual in question no longer attends The Master's University. The University takes all violations of its standards and biblical convictions seriously."

The most famous Paul Skenes rookie card in existence just sold for a staggering $1.1 MILLION!!!

The piece -- which sparked a frenetic manhunt from hobbyists last year -- was bought out of the Fanatics Collect’s March Premier Auction on Wednesday night. No word yet on who ultimately came away with it.

The hefty price tag set multiple records -- it not only became the most expensive Skenes card ever publicly sold, but it also earned the mark for priciest debut patch.

Dodgers star Max Muncy was super pissed off after a fan derailed his attempt at catching a foul ball during the MLB Tokyo Series Wednesday ... but the culprit wasn't the average spectator -- it was ex-NFLer Rodney Peete!!

The random moment broke out amid L.A.'s 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs in Japan ... when the 34-year-old third baseman ran near the seats to try and catch a pop-up.

Muncy was just inches away from making the highlight ... but Peete, too, extended his limb in hopes of getting a souvenir -- and he came away with it, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering he was also drafted several times by MLB teams, but pursued football instead.

A college baseball player allegedly ambushed an elderly man in a California bar, knocking the HELL out of him during a drunken altercation that was all caught on video.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Owen Hayes, 21, allegedly got into a heated confrontation with an 84-year-old man inside a Santa Clarita dive bar -- and the tensions soon turned violent.

Check out video, obtained by TMZ, which shows the fight that took place in the early morning hours of February 28. It starts with one guy arguing with the geriatric customer, as another man eventually steps between them.

A brawl broke out during the Jackson State and the Prairie View A&M baseball game in Texas over the weekend -- with benches clearing amid the chaos ... and now both sides are left dealing with the consequences.

It all went down on Saturday after senior Trenton Bush hit a walk-off RBI for the Panthers -- as the winners were celebrating at second base, a Tigers player sprinted from left field and into the huddle ... and that's when things took a turn.

As coaches tried to break up the athletes, a Panthers player fell to the ground near second base ... but he was eventually helped up to his feet.

Shohei Ohtani made his long-awaited return to the baseball diamond in Japan ... and he rocked some special cleats for the occasion -- which prominently featured his beloved pup, Decoy!!

Ohtani gave fans a close look at the footwear following his Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs ... showing off the popular pooch stitched into the heel of his shoe and painted on the bottom.

He also displayed some tasty treats his wife, Mamiko, got from Ete ... which is an exclusive restaurant in Japan that says they only serve one group per day!

The MLB officially kicked off its 2025 season in Japan on Tuesday morning ... and plenty of celebs caught lengthy flights to check out the action in person -- including Bill Murray!!

The diehard Chicago supporter was joined by Billie Jean King, Ken Griffey Jr. and a host of other legends to catch Game 1 of the Cubs vs. Dodgers Tokyo Series ... and the action both on the diamond and off of it didn't disappoint.

Shohei Ohtani starred, recording two hits and scoring two runs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga each pitched great games, too.

Shohei Ohtani and Takashi Murakami teamed up to autograph some highly coveted baseball cards ahead of the MLB Tokyo Series ... and it goes without saying, these pieces of cardboard are going to be insanely valuable.

The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar and famous Japanese artist got together on Monday ... where they opened several boxes of the exclusive Topps x Takashi Murakami MLB Tokyo Series collection.

They appeared on Fanatics Live and signed "redemption cards" for two Topps sets created by Murakami ... which will surely be highly coveted by any collector.

The Dodgers will kick off the 2025 campaign without their star shortstop ... Mookie Betts will miss the opening series with an illness -- which was so bad the former A.L. MVP dropped 15 lbs!

Manager Dave Roberts made the announcement Monday in Tokyo ... saying that while Betts has begun to feel better, he's still trying to get his strength back, and rehydrate from the couple of days he was ill.

"When you're dehydrated, that's what opens a person up to soft tissue injuries. We're very mindful of that," the skipper said, making it clear he didn't want to risk injury with Mookie.